Archive for June, 2008

In the National Register location data, everything is plotted with UTM coordinates (zone, easting, and northing). I want to use this location information in work I’m doing on PAB, which at the moment requires me to convert everything to latitude and longitude.

I could do this in ArcMap, and reproject the whole dataset. But I want to write an automated import script for NR data, so I had to find code I could use in ColdFusion separate from traditional GIS software.

Found paydirt in Chuck Taylor’s GIS toolbox. He has a javascript version of the conversion routines, so all I needed to do was migrate that to a ColdFusion component (CFC). Having freely received, I’ll freely give — here’s the CFC for converting UTM to latitude and longitude. No restrictions attached.

Update (Oct 2, 2009): I’ve written a new post with links to newer versions of this script. Make sure you use the code there, not here.

For the map mosaic viewer I’m working on, the images are generated by ER Mapper’s Image Web Server from the source JPEG 2000 and ECW files. It works great, but can be a little slow, as it has to load very large images (equivalent of 100GB uncompressed) and pull tiles out. Because the viewer always uses the same tiles at each zoom level (defined by a lat/lon bounding box), it made sense to cache the images.

OK, so I’m a little behind the times. I don’t see movies in theaters, and watch them on DVD long after everyone else has. Today’s treat was Juno, which was kind of like Napoleon Dynamite, but so much better.

Look, in my opinion, the best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what-have-you — the right person is still gonna think the sun shines our your ass.

Don’t know that I agree, but it is hilarious and most definitely my favorite line. Go watch the movie if you haven’t seen it.

Now for some commentary: While the world-view of the movie is most definitely apathetic to the Christian faith, there is respect for life and for spirituality and significance. In this expose of teenage banality, life is anything but banal. Well done.

So I watched Robert Redford’s Lion for Lambs with my brother Joel, who is heading to Iraq with the Pa. National Guard sometime in January. So the story had strong relevance, but the movie sucked. Turns out this particular film bombed with critics and at the box office. Some people think that Americans just don’t want to think about these subjects:

What’s worse is that because the film dares to delve into our foreign policy in Iraq and Afghanistan, the corruption of our nation’s media and the plight of our young enlistees, Lions for Lambs‘ poor performance has been cited as yet more proof that American audiences have no interest in political films anymore. (Adam Howard, “In Defense of Robert Redford’s ‘Lions for Lambs,’” AlterNet.)

Maybe Americans really do want to “change the channel” on Iraq. But more likely in the case of Lions for Lambs, the movie was just horrible. Tom Cruise’s war hawk senator was overdone beyond credulity; Meryl Streep was a half-baked idealistic journalist; and Robert Redford was unconvincing. (Joel says, “This movies is poop… poop, I say!”)

But there was one concept in the movie that really piqued my interest.

Different Worlds

NB: Life and technology are often very different worlds. Don't
get overwhelmed by the tech posts (on the one hand) or annoyed by my politics (on the other). Choose
the category you're interested in and ignore the rest. You have my permission.

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